But, for new/prospective owners of the F800R who are used to the traffic and the vibe here in the asylum-

It ain't like that over on F800Riders.org. At least not on the F800R specific sections. Good folks, no doubt, and I've gotten some good info so far, but don't expect real-time answers or as much depth or 'tude as you get here. There don't appear to be that many active owners, and the traffic is a fraction of this place (and of a lot of the other forums I frequent).

Just sayin'...

__________________"Everybody's got to believe in something.
I believe I'll have another beer."
- W. C. Fields

This thread is indeed a bit slow compared to other parts of this forum..

Anyway I have an R since 2 months. Bought it for commuting and short trips, haven't made any long rides yet unfortunately. Just put over 1000km on it.

Why I bought it ? Well I have always loved naked bikes :-) The dealer had a 2011 model with 900km on it, black and yellow, and I just liked the looks of it. ABS, heated handles, .. things I need to drive it daily.

Tested a GS. That drove nice, similar riding position to what I was used to. Drove the R, felt totally different, a little less easy to turn, had to get used to the riding position.. but loved how it accelerates :-)
so bought the R in the end.

Had a wunderlich windscreen and bmw topcase installed on it. Yesterday put givi crash protectors on it (a bit late as last week I fell when my rear brake didn't brake as hard as I wanted it to...)

heh... Had mine for a few weeks now, traded the '10 GSA for it. So damn light and flickable to me by comparison. Don't need the step ladder to get onto it.
Best of all the wife likes getting on the back more than the GSA! That's a plus.... I think...

heh... Had mine for a few weeks now, traded the '10 GSA for it. So damn light and flickable to me by comparison. Don't need the step ladder to get onto it.
Best of all the wife likes getting on the back more than the GSA! That's a plus.... I think...

Piccie..

I've not seen that colour combo before, looks nice.

__________________"Style is not a decoration added to a functional structure, it's a work of art."

Still awaiting mine to arrive was given the 30th of November as a due date then Today as the date now the 12th so I will be picking it up on the 15th aslong as we don't get heavy snow ...wait is painful lol

I have been strangely drawn to these bikes for a while now, so when Max had the demo fleet at Hunter Mtn. for Colors in the Catskills, I jumped at the opportunity to try out the 800R. A couple other inmates went along, one to try out the 800GS and compare to his Tiger 800XC, the other to try the Sertao (which he called a dog, even though he managed to sneak in a decent wheelie on the ride). Anyhow, Max had a nice loop set up around the Hunter area, the ride was on a mix of roads and lasted about a half hour. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate - it was about 50 deg and raining the whole time. At least I got to try the heated grips.

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the 800R. The steering felt incredibly heavy at parking lot speeds, but got much better around 20mph, eventually I got used to it. Kind of hard to really evaluate due to the weather dictating a slower pace. There was a surprising amount of drive lash, I don't know if that is a characteristic of the bike or bad setup on the one I rode, but it was annoying. The seating position and handlebar ergos felt weird at a rest, but were very good out on the road. I can see how the engine is a love it or hate it thing; personally I'm on the fence. I found it a bit buzzy and expected a bit more midrange, but again, I couldn't really open it up thanks to the weather conditions. I did like the funky sound under hard throttle though, a nice guttural growl with whatever aftermarket pipe they had on it. Brakes felt nice and strong without being twitchy, and the suspension was very taut. Whoever designed the gauges should be shot - they look cheap and are impossible to read quickly at speed.

Overall, I liked the aesthetics(except the dash), the ergos, and the overall ride experience, but there were just enough little niggly issues, that I think at the current price level, I'd just keep my money and my old SV650. Now, if someone offered me a straight across trade...., yeah right. just my 2 cents, hope everyone who has one of these bikes is enjoying the ride!

It's fun on these.... Surprised at the slow steering comments, I guess it's what you compare it to, the work ST1300 and my old GSA were much heavier to flick around. The ride positions is very similar to my old Rockster with that slight forward lean, which I found comfortable. Still it'll be fun for a while, like most things!

It's fun on these.... Surprised at the slow steering comments, I guess it's what you compare it to, the work ST1300 and my old GSA were much heavier to flick around. The ride positions is very similar to my old Rockster with that slight forward lean, which I found comfortable. Still it'll be fun for a while, like most things!

Don't get me wrong. I did say it felt pretty good above 20 mph or so. It was just in the parking lot and going round intersections where I thought it felt weird -like it took a lot of input to get it turning and then it wanted to flop over. This is compared to my SV and WR250R - to be fair I'd just ridden the WR 100 miles to the demo and that handles like a bicycle compared even to the SV.

I don't know, I went to an empty parking lot to practice tight turns, figures eights, hard braking and otherwise get used to the bike when I first got it and I thought it handled extremely well. It really wasn't the hard.

It's stupidly light when you come from a bigger bike, like anything else.... Hanging out for the suspension to arrive so I can fit it up. Trouble is, brand new bike bits are like porn, you just wanna stare not actually fit it. My last set of Wilbers sat pride of place on the table for the week!